So over in the land of the rising sun, where reading novels on your cell might already be so passé, there is a new way to pass the time while you're bored on the subway or waiting for the movie to start: flip through picture books on your cell phone. According to Tokyo Mango:

The picture book will be read page by page, like a kamishibai—no scrolling, just clicking from page to page. It will include both popular children's titles and original content. You can buy them online for 100-200 yen each. The company hopes to have 50 titles and 10,000 downloads by September.

I wouldn't mind seeing this tried in the U.S. There are all kinds of applications. Kids stories or even comic book stories to some degree. It's worth a shot ... as long as I am not the one who has to front the money!

I wouldn't mind seeing this tried in the U.S. There are all kinds of applications. Kids stories or even comic book stories to some degree. It's worth a shot ... as long as I am not the one who has to front the money!

Personally (and I'm a little biased, okay, WAY biased ), I think it has great opportunities.

Not neccesarily on a mobile phone (ugh), but the opportunties are almost limitless for these types of e-books on even slightly bigger screens as small as the iPhone.

We, as e-publisher, just need to be able to be more formatting aware and offer it as an option.